As a child, I had a serious addiction: quarter vending machines. I now realize that these machines’ prizes are not actually worth a quarter, but a decade ago I adored them. My parents would generously take me to the store just for the quarter machines. The little things in life can bring a surprising amount of pleasure, like the killer collection of bouncy balls and animal pencil toppers that I accumulated.
The only problem with a quarter machine addiction is it requires an ample reserve of quarters. As a little kid, I always wanted to have all my quarters available in case we ran across a quarter machine, but I did not want to lug around my ultra-heavy sparkly purple purse. So what did I do? I took advantage of my generous parents and cast my purse onto them to carry.
I felt no hesitation whatsoever to throw my heavy burden onto my parents. Why? Because I know that they love me unconditionally and want to help me.
This carefree casting of a weighty burden reminds me of our relationship with God. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us that we should be casting all our cares upon God because He cares for us. In Romans 8:15, Paul tells believers that God has given us an invitation to call Him Father. And as a loving Father, God wants to care for us and take our burdens away from us. God was not forced to become our Father. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:13, He willingly chose to adopt us, paying the ultimate price for our redemption. He was not pressured into saving us, but rather joyfully chooses to love us.
We can boldly approach the throne of grace just like a little kid approaches their parents when they want something. We do not need to analyze our request to ensure that it is important enough for our Father’s attention. He has ample time and attention, enough to number the hairs on our heads (Luke 12:6-7). As frivolous as it sounds, He even has the time and attention to keep track of all the birds in every corner of the planet (Luke 12:6-7). God cares enough about His creation to be intimately involved. If God cares enough to track all the birds, don’t you think He cares enough about us to keep track of our lives?
Jesus paints a beautiful picture of Him carrying our burdens in Matthew 11:28-30 when He says “Come to Me, all [you] who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light.” God’s goodness extends beyond just taking our burdens off our shoulders. He exchanges our burdens with blessings. Psalm 68:19 says that God daily loads us with benefits. God’s overabundant love is shown in His extravagant care for us.
When I am weighed down by the burdens of adult life, I should remember the carefree kid version of myself. Back then, I had no problem thrusting my problems onto my parents. Now that I am an adult, I should willingly cast my cares onto God, who loves me and cares for me. After all, God never expects us to handle our burdens because He knows that only He is strong enough to make our heavy cares light.
Living Blessed with Less 